Rosslyn’s Gateway Park Gets a Sandbox

(Updated Sept. 1 at 5:45 p.m.) The Rosslyn Business Improvement District and Arlington County have turned an unused fountain at Gateway Park into a new sandbox.

The sandbox will officially open on Sept. 12 during the Rosslyn Jazz Festival, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 1:30 p.m. There will also be kids activities, including face painting and sidewalk chalk drawing.

Located on the western edge of the park, by Lee Highway, the sandbox features the work of local artists Evelyn Powers and Patrick Kirwin, who have painted the edges of the sandbox with flowers, insects and other critters. The artists will also paint stone bunnies, turtles, frogs and other creatures that will be placed around the sandbox, according to a press release.

The former fountain now has a main sand area reachable by stairs, surrounded by a sand-filled moat.

“Once an unmemorable part of the park, we hope it will become a place where children and their caregivers can go to relax and have fun,” the Rosslyn BID said in a statement.